If you haven't read the CMU board thread requesting for a mod to ban ChipDip (aka-WMUfan55 on scout), I highly recommend you check it out. Dip has one of them threatening to withhold his contributions towards the board unless Dip is banned. Great stuff.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=340&f=2793&t=11210022


Now onto a very unprofessional preview from my point of view.


A lot of people, including myself, were pretty critical of the Keno Davis hiring last year. Last summer, I honestly thought the ceiling for the chips would be 5 wins...total all season.

Fast forward to January 2013 and Keno has made strides that I didn't think were possible with the roster he assembled. They have less talent than the team Zeigler coached last year...but they play with much more passion. Seriously, if the MAC COY wasn't an award for who finished in the top 4 of the conference...Keno Davis would get it hands down IMO. Nobody has done more with less IMO.


Random fact...the chips have been trading a winning every other game since Dec. 20. They haven't had back to back wins or losses in that time frame. Unfortunately CMU's date with our Broncos would fall on a "W" for them (they lost to NIU last night). But, since patterns like that rarely if ever hold...I'm very optimistic :) Well, throw in the fact that we are the better team and you can understand why I would say that.

Kyle Randall checks in as their leading scorer with 16.5 ppg. He is their heart and soul. He does everything right now. He plays 32 minutes per game, and the next closest player is at 26. He shoots 42% from the field, 89% from the free throw line, and almost 37% from 3 point land. If he has a flaw, it's his tendency to turn the ball over a little too much. He's basically at a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. But considering he is asked to handle the rock a lot...the good outweighs the bad.

The way I see this game is that WMU has one choice on defense.

They need to get after Randall with Pokely, Brown and maybe even a little bit of Hutch and force everyone else to make plays/shots. I don't think they have the offensive fire power to hang with us if we limit Randall.

The chips have attempted 438 three pointers this season. That's an average of 24 per game. To give you an idea...WMU averages 16 and Ohio averages 23 attempts. That's right...the chips shoot more 3's than Ohio.

That strategy has likely served them well considering 1. they've exceeded all expectations already on the year and 2. they do not have much size in their front court at all.

Mbaigoto and Simons make up their starting front court. Simons is 6'8" but functions more like a small forward. He can shoot the ball...kind of reminds me of what Levi Rost probably looked like as a frosh in college bball. Mbaigoto is active but certainly not as skilled as our big men.


CMU wins this game if:

1. We come out flat
2. They shoot the lights out from 3 range
3. We are extremely careless and commit unbelievable amounts of turnovers against their press.

Highlights from a chip game against BGSU below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9CAHrGsnhc

Their offense is pretty simple...They have four guys around the perimeter, one of them tries to drive the lane, and then kicks it out for a 3 when a help defender comes along. Or, in the case of Randall, he can score once he gets inside 15 feet. Spacing is the key with them. It won't be easy for us because Darius Paul will be guarding Simons and I doubt he will be trying to post up against us.

WMU wins if:

1. We play at our pace
2. We limit their 3 point shooters by getting a hand in their face
3. We dominate inside


Looking forward to a little revenge on Saturday night. The loss at their place last year is still a little fresh in my mind.

WMU: 78
CMU: 68

The problem for us when the other team is jacking up 3s is those pesky long rebounds. We saw EMU snag 4 consecutive offensive rebounds on one possession last night. Don't pack 4 guys in the paint - leave one out for those long rebounds.

That particular series was painful to watch. Got a headache from beating my head against the wall.

(01-24-2013 08:00 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  The problem for us when the other team is jacking up 3s is those pesky long rebounds. We saw EMU snag 4 consecutive offensive rebounds on one possession last night. Don't pack 4 guys in the paint - leave one out for those long rebounds.

That's how teams like Central appear to be good rebounding teams, when in reality most of their rebound come at or below the waist. It's easier to track down long rebounds if your tracking them down constantly in practice.

Central has problems against teams who zone, and teams that switch a lot. We won't zone, but we do switch a lot, and we do double the ball handler with a big quite often. A lot of teams do this, but I think we do it a little better because we play ten players. Fatigue is not an issue.

I also think Hawk will take something away from what NIU did. They had a chaser on Randall all the time, and as soon as he tried to penetrate two bigs would surround him as well, taking away his kickout and his little fade away. Once you neutralize him the others don't bring much to the table.

On offense I'd feed the pill inside all night. They have no defense in the paint. Feed it, launch it, crash the board.

The danger is that we have historically played the first game here and won by a huge margin and then lost up there. We beat them once here by almost 60 points, and lost by 4 up there.

Who can forget Bitzer and Harmon draining threes like lay ups. If Hawk can design a defense to keep them from going off from three, the offense will come. We proved we can defeat a zone using Paul/Tave working a high low game with Whit/Hutch. EMU even had size to defend the paint, but it wasn't enough. CMU has nothing in the paint.

Forgot to mention this. Every video I've seen of cmu this year has them playing ball screens soft and underneath.

Would be nice if Poke could hit a 3 or five if they do this.

(01-24-2013 10:32 PM)EA3 Wrote:  Forgot to mention this. Every video I've seen of cmu this year has them playing ball screens soft and underneath.

Would be nice if Poke could hit a 3 or five if they do this.

They play a zone, not too many ball screens happening.

(01-24-2013 10:27 PM)Chipdip Wrote:  We proved we can defeat a zone using Paul/Tave working a high low game with Whit/Hutch.

(01-24-2013 10:34 PM)Chipdip Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:32 PM)EA3 Wrote:  Forgot to mention this. Every video I've seen of cmu this year has them playing ball screens soft and underneath.

Would be nice if Poke could hit a 3 or five if they do this.

They play a zone, not too many ball screens happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q54hZmz77Ww

Majority of possessions in this video feature a man to man defense from the chips. I counted at least 3 balls screens that they played very very soft on.

Furthermore...why wouldn't you use a ball screen when playing against a zone?????

4-5 record at CMU since Hawk took over.

Needs to even up tomorrow night.

LOL...ok, which one of you joined the cmu board with the username TaylorPerrysHouseofPAIN ????

I'm guessing it's H4H?????

(01-25-2013 03:08 PM)EA3 Wrote:  LOL...ok, which one of you joined the cmu board with the username TaylorPerrysHouseofPAIN ????

I'm guessing it's H4H?????

These guys are like dogs, very territorial. You need to make a prediction over there. Doesn't have to be rude, just a prediction with a little to back it up. Some of them are boiling mad just having us there.

413 have viewed that page with only six predictions.